Comcast Multi-Stream CableCard?

I convinced Comcast to not charge me a second outlet fee since they are both going into a single DVR (exact same situation as their 6412)

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It is not the exact situation, in reality.

Yes, for the argument of "outlets" it is the same situation, and if they are billing per outlet, they they ought to bill for one. If you can succeed in getting them to bill per "appliance", all the better.

The reality is that each cablecard or cable box (known as an access device) takes up one entry in the authorisation system, and that has a fixed cost.

If I can't get the same services with a CableCARD as I get with a digital cable box, why am I being charged the same price?

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See "reality" above. There is a fixed cost for having something authorised.

The potential good news is that while I was on with Comcast he said that I should be getting a Multi-Stream card and would only need one in the Tivo S3. He was the first person at Comcast I had talked to who seemed to have any clue about CableCards. He modified my order to a single card.

Am I going to be really bummed out on Friday with a single-stream card?

I am in the SF/East Bay Area Market.

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Just getting caught up on many of the threads here, and need to take a moment to clarify something. DiscoBayJoe, I'll be sending you a PM as well.

There is currently no certification process for multi-stream cards (MCARD) in uni-directional devices such as the Series3. We are tracking the creation of the certification for this very closely and will work with CableLabs as this certification is finalized and becomes available. In the mean time, you will need two cable cards in your Series3 to enable dual tuner functionality (MCARDs in a uni-directional device act as SCARDs).

This is the first that we've seen an MCARD 'in the wild', they are generally not available. Please let your cable company know that if they only provide MCARDs, that for the time being you will need two for your Series3.

There is currently no certification process for multi-stream cards (MCARD) in uni-directional devices such as the Series3. We are tracking the creation of the certification for this very closely and will work with CableLabs as this certification is finalized and becomes available. In the mean time, you will need two cable cards in your Series3 to enable dual tuner functionality (MCARDs in a uni-directional device act as SCARDs).

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I bothered the Comcast guy who stopped by on Wednesday (happy I went to BB to pick one up since my Tivo from vip didn't show up until today, even with two day air!) and he was extremely skeptical on multistream coming soon and if its even available anywhere yet for use 'in the wild'. The installers and techs seem to have a very skeptical view of cablecard devices just because of the wild variances of issues and how some tv's interact with the card. I can't really say I don't blame them.

Just getting caught up on many of the threads here, and need to take a moment to clarify something. DiscoBayJoe, I'll be sending you a PM as well.

There is currently no certification process for multi-stream cards (MCARD) in uni-directional devices such as the Series3. We are tracking the creation of the certification for this very closely and will work with CableLabs as this certification is finalized and becomes available. In the mean time, you will need two cable cards in your Series3 to enable dual tuner functionality (MCARDs in a uni-directional device act as SCARDs).

This is the first that we've seen an MCARD 'in the wild', they are generally not available. Please let your cable company know that if they only provide MCARDs, that for the time being you will need two for your Series3.

Cheers,
Pony

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Can you elaborate a little more?

Is this a matter of getting certified or do you guys need to make changes to the software- or both?

Sounds to me like CableLabs hasn't finalized the multi-stream CC STB side of the certification process. They definitely have finalized the certification process side of multi-stream CCs as there are a number of CCs which have gone through and passed this certification.

The S3 was the first device I was aware of that was 'suppose' to support multi-stream cards, and I suspect it is capable of doing so, but doesn't have CableLabs seal of approval yet. This stinks of typical CableLabs feet dragging.

What I'm wondering though is what really happens if you stick an M-card in it?

IS TiVo obligated to say "it's not approved" and please dont use an m-card in it? But really it will work fine?

But to get the second one to pair and all that I have to assume that tivo wont pair both tuners to the first card. So why not? Tivo must have somethign set to force m-cards in the first slot to fall back to s-card mode.

CableLabs recently approved a certification process for M-Card CC 1.0 host devices, like the S3. TiVo was one of the companies that worked with CableLabs to develop that. Now that there is a procedure TiVo can work on implementing it in the S3.

CableLabs recently approved a certification process for M-Card CC 1.0 host devices, like the S3. TiVo was one of the companies that worked with CableLabs to develop that. Now that there is a procedure TiVo can work on implementing it in the S3.

So the comcast guy just left... Leaving me 2 M-Cards. I dunno if they work as of yet, but supposedly they are on my acct and im running guided setup now. They seemed to be a bit confused as to which number to give the cable office to put the cards on the acct...

Well the cable cards had to be upgraded to their latest firmware, but then I still didn't receive channels 31-78, but I got the digital channels above 100. I called customer service and it took them another 30 mins to figure out what to change to make it work, and then was very confused when they realized I had two cable cards. It all seems sorted now, but I think there are still lots of confusion about what to do to get everything working properly.

The bad news is that my S3 didn't arrive today (ordered 9/12 w/2Day). UPS shows it as set for 2-day as-ordered (not the 1-day uplift as indicated in other threads) with it hitting their TX Hub at 9PM Friday. This should mean delivery tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunatly this also meant I had to bump (for the 2nd time) my AM Comcast appointment out from Tomorrow AM until Friday.

The potential good news is that while I was on with Comcast he said that I should be getting a Multi-Stream card and would only need one in the Tivo S3. He was the first person at Comcast I had talked to who seemed to have any clue about CableCards. He modified my order to a single card.

Am I going to be really bummed out on Friday with a single-stream card?

I am in the SF/East Bay Area Market.

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OK. I just bought a S3 HD Tivo and when I went to Comcast here in Houston, was told that I only need 1 Multi-stream card. When I set everything up, it all worked fine except the premium channels. When I go to a premium channel, I get a screen that shows all the information on the card and network. At the top it says, "This Screen is dieplayed on behalf of your cable provider." I contacted Support at Comcast (took 3 times because they kept directing my call to a dead number) and the last person I spoke with said that a single multistream card will not work in the S3 Tivo. He said I need 2 multistream cards. He said even the single stream cards won't work which is interesting because I have another S3 HD Tivo with 2 regular cards and they work fine.

Anybody have any ideas? Is it just Comcast Houston (formerly Time Warer) or am I dealing with a bunch of idiots?